Idaho Outfitters Expect Record Year For Tourism

Idaho outfitters are gearing up for a record summer tourism season that will pump more than $1 billion into the state’s economy.

A good water year and growing interest in river rafting - helped along by the popularity of last year’s Meryl Streep movie “River Wild” - should give a big boost to outfitters and related businesses.

Steve Jones of Cascade Raft Co. expects more than 4,000 people to go down the Payette River this summer. That would be 15 percent more than last year.

“We’re already way above last year in advance information and bookings,” Jones said. “Our growth can be attributed to a lot more tourists and the best water since 1986.”

Rafting and canoeing usually generate about $100 million each year in money spent on tours, gas, food, lodging and shopping in Idaho.

Those activities, combined with fishing, boating, camping, hunting and horse packing trips, account for 75 percent of the state’s annual tourism revenue.

“All indications put Idaho in an outstanding position,” said Carl Wilgus, tourism director for the state Department of Commerce. “We should see the best season ever.”

Wilgus said this year’s summer revenues will increase by at least 7 percent compared to last year.

That kind of increase in tourism will create a flood of seasonal jobs in recreational services, hotel and lodging and retail industries. Last June, 46 percent of the state’s total employment had ties to the tourism industry, according to Employment Department statistics.

Although analysts are unsure how many new jobs will be created this summer, Jones’ business offers a good example. He has hired 13 new employees already this summer to handle tourists, and plans to hire at least three more.

Experts say low currency rates will keep more Americans from traveling abroad and prompt more overseas travelers to visit the United States.

Outfitters say their main customers are Idahoans and their visiting friends and relatives. But the state also is becoming more of a travel destination.

“We’ve gotten calls from people all over the country who have heard we have good water supply,” said Jo Cassin, who owns Idaho River Sports in Boise. “There’s definitely plenty of excitement this year.”

In another boost to water recreationists, cool, wet weather in early May helped delay melting of Idaho’s plentiful mountain snowpack. That means rivers and streams will stay higher longer, said Ron Abramovich, a water supply specialist at Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Nationally, tourism volume is expected to increase by 2 percent.